Sins and Transgressions in Ayn Rand's Anthem

Sins and Transgressions The society and government in which a person lives is one of the most influential factors for their religion, values and what is socially acceptable within the terms of society. In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, the dystopian society’s government has a very prominent role in every citizen’s life. The council, the group of people who run the society, established many rules and ways of thinking towards appearance and lifestyle. In this society, being different is considered evil because the council engraved into the citizen’s heads that it is only socially acceptable to be one of the group. Prometheus, the main character, is individualized in the civilization as one of the smartest, tallest and most capable people. These characteristics resulted in rejection and outcast treatment from the council. Society perceives cleverness and height as a curse, consequentially living a life of sins and transgressions. To prevent citizens from stepping out of obedience and overthrowing their power, the leaders of this dystopian society maintain a negative connotation toward individuality. Intelligence is not highly recognized in this society so as to sustain the control the council has over its citizens by manipulating the general population to have low intelligence. One of Prometheus’ main “sins” is that he is intellectually above all other citizens in the society. He is punished throughout his childhood for this transgression so he would grow up with the mentality that it was evil to be superior and that he should not use his abilities. “It was that the learning was too easy. That is a great sin, to be born with a head, which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior” (Rand 21). Prometheus has always been superior to his brothers, but to retain the power the government has over the people’s ways of thinking, the council has laws that enforce he must be like his brothers in every way. These laws include